Sea Turtle Conservation: Building Awareness and Knowledge for Local Communities

25 March 2008 | News story

A training workshop about implementing an extra-curricular lesson series, “Protecting Sea Turtles and their Habitat” was conducted in mid-March for more than 30 junior high school teachers in the two coastal communes of Hai An and Trieu Lang in Trieu Phong District, Quang Tri Province.

The training is a component of the community awareness raising segment of IUCN’s Community-Based Management of Sea Turtle Habitat in Quang Tri Province Project.

The training workshop provided teachers with the skills needed to organizing extra-curriculum activities based on the document “Let’s Save Sea Turtles and Their Habitat .” The document outlines information and knowledge that can help raise the awareness of youth about sea turtle conservation and was developed especially for extra-curricular classes . It is accompanied by an informative packet, entitled “Biological Information About Sea Turtles and Their Habitat.”

Due to the participatory methodology of the training program, all of the participants mastered the skills needed to deliver creative and effective extra-curricular courses.

The 3-day training workshop included four main components. The first was training about the content of the lessons to be delivered. The second provided information about how to effectively implement extra-curricular exercises such as warm-up activities, role play, games, and drama performances. Next, in small teams, participants demonstrated the skills they learned by delivering mock lectures and delivering a drama performance about sea turtle conservation. The training session concluded with a group evaluation of each team’s lecture and drama performance and comment provision to enrich the curriculum contents.

Representatives from the District Education Department and the People’s Commune Committees attended the workshop and expressed strong support for the Sea Turtle Conservation awareness raising programme.

At the conclusion of the workshop, lessons learned and proposal for a follow-up plan were developed. The document has been circulated to local stakeholders to coordinate future awareness raising and education programmes. The lessons on protecting sea turtles and their habitat will be taught in extra-curricular classes for students in grades 6 to 9.